Here are the countries that have qualified for AFCON 2019 semis

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Four countries have managed to book their ticket to the semi-finals of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).

Africa has eight economic and political blocs but only two of them have representatives in the last four of the competition: West Africa and North Africa.

Nigeria and Senegal from West Africa and Tunisia and Algeria from North Africa have been separated from the rest of the 24 nations that started the competition.

Nigeria edged South Africa 2-1, whereas Senegal defeated Benin 1-0 on Wednesday.

The two North African powerhouses got the better part of their opponents on Thursday: Algeria qualified for the semis after beating Ivory Coast 4-3 on penalties following a 1-1 draw in 120 minutes of football, while Tunisia thrashed debutants Madagascar 3-0 to end their fairy-tale

The semi-finals pairings suggest a battle between North Africa and West Africa: Senegal face Tunisia as Algeria take on Nigeria.

With the exception of Senegal who are still searching for their first AFCON trophy, the rest of the semi-finalists are all former champions of the competition.

The Taranga Lions are looking forward to reaching the final of the Africa Cup of Nations for the second time.

They played in the final of the AFCON 2002 staged in Mali, yet they lost against Cameroon in a heart-breaking penalty shootout to deny them of their first major continental title.

Senegal are the highest-ranked African country on the FIFA ranking.

But they haven't lived up to that hype in the competition. They finished runners-up in their after winning two games and losing against Algeria, yet they have been grinding out the results match after match to reach this far.

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